Optogenetic control of calcium influx in mammalian cells.

Yi-Tsang Lee, Rui Chen, Yubin Zhou, Lian He

Methods in enzymology 2021

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Optogenetics combines optics and genetics to enable non-invasive interrogation of cell physiology at an unprecedented high spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we introduce Opto-CRAC as a set of genetically-encoded calcium actuators (GECAs) engineered from the calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel, which has been tailored for optical control of calcium entry and calcium-dependent physiological responses in non-excitable cells and tissues. We describe a detailed protocol for applying Opto-CRAC as an optogenetic tool to achieve photo-tunable control over intracellular calcium signals and calcium-dependent gene expression in mammalian cells. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.